


Now or Never?

by Frenchiewrites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M, Modern Marauders (Harry Potter), Muggle Life, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29537049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frenchiewrites/pseuds/Frenchiewrites
Summary: „It’s now or never, what’s it going to be?“ - „Never, then“Sirius falls in love with his brother’s best friend when he is 14. Maddy falls in love with her best friend's brother when she is 12. They have one weekend in Paris in their late teens. He sees her again when he is 24. She sees him again when she is 22. Can they finally be what they wanted to be all those years ago?
Relationships: Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

_He_

They kissed in front of the Eiffel Tower. And the Louvre. They ate falafel in the Marais District. They had a really good time the whole weekend, the time of their lives, the final scene of a 6-year-odyssey to finally get to that point. The point where they could call themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. Sirius and Maddy. Maddy and Sirius.

She had booked them a room in one of the poshest hotels in Paris. Not because she liked spending that money. She simply wasn’t used to not having the best money can buy. It was a family tradition. She didn’t do in purpose, Sirius knew that. She just didn’t know any other way.

They lay in bed after another quite enthusiastic round of love-making. Sweaty and still intertwined in a post-coital cuddle while the sun set over Paris Sirius decided that this was his forever. With a smile he looked at the delicate girl in his arms whose head rested on his shoulder. Gently he kissed her on the top of her head in hopes that she hadn’t fallen asleep.

„I could stay here forever,“ he mumbled into her platinum-blonde hair.

Her mouth morphed into a grin and a little giggle escaped. Not asleep, perfect. When she looked up at him he could see his love reflected in her steel-gray eyes.

„While that would certainly be the most marvelous thing on earth, it also isn’t possible.“ There was amusement in her voice and also a little bit of regret.

„Why not?“

„I have to go back home tomorrow for this thing with my family at the Manor. And then Lola and Reggie are coming over for our monthly movie marathon with tons of fast food.“

„Do you really have to be there for this thing with your family?“ He knew he sounded petulant but he really wasn’t ready to go back there. Not yet, not when it meant going back to a reality where he would be considered the outcast and she would be the princess. Could their still young relationship handle that? He hoped so. Did he want to put it to a test? Hell no.

She squashed her face into his neck and kissed the side of it. Then she sat up with a sigh and put a hand onto his abdomen. She gently stroked his muscles and looked back down at him with a gentle smile. „I’m afraid so, honey.“

„Can’t you just skip it this time and go to the next one? I’ve never seen a family with so many anniversaries in one year. They probably won’t notice anyway with the huge crowd your father invites to these kinds of things.“

She laughed this time but her voice gentled again when she answered his question: „I’m pretty sure that my father will notice when his only daughter isn’t present at a Malfoy Family Party Extravaganza. It’s kind of hard not to, I’m the only female in the whole family. Well, blood-related anyway. Cissy obviously counts as a female Malfoy.“

Silence fell over the room. She stayed seated and watched the city getting darker and then the street lights come on. It was still comparatively early in the day due to the short days of January. When the room was so dark that he could only see her outlines and nothing more, he dared to ask another question: „Will it always be this way? You choosing your family’s whims over me?“

„What do you expect? That I break with my family just so I don’t have to go to the dinners anymore?“

„Why not? I did it.“

„I’m not you, Sirius.“

With a sigh she got out of bed and vanished in the little bathroom. He could hear the the toilet flush and her rummaging around. After a few minutes she emerged back into the room, fully dressed and with her toiletries in hand. Sirius didn’t even have to look at them, he knew that they were the most expensive kind. She put everything into the little bag she brought with her.

„So, that’s it? You’re choosing them over me?“

„I didn’t know that I have choose between my family and you. Can’t we just be together while I’m still an active part of my family?“

Her voice had gradually turned colder during those last bits of conversation. Her normally gentle and kind face had morphed into an impassive one. A facial expression one could normally see on her father and brothers. Never on her, though. Until now. With a sigh she fisted her hand into her hair and then let it fall back to her side.

„Look. I love you, Siri,“ she continued, gentler than before, „Really, I do, but I’m not willing to give up my family for you. This can only have a future if you’re ready to accept that. I can understand why you want to break with yours but my father is no Orion or a male Walburga or anything. Call me if you can accept that.“

Panic began to flare up in him. This sounded like goodbye. He wasn’t ready for that. Not when he just finally worked up the courage to confess his feelings and do something about the relationship between them.

„What are you doing?“ The words sounded more like a croak than his actual voice.

„I don’t think that it would be good for us to stay in closer proximity so I’m going back to London tonight. The room is paid for, Siri. Stay the night and think about it.“

„So you already decided for yourself? When exactly? In the bathroom? Or when you put your stuff into your bag?“ His voice had become louder but he didn’t care. Not anymore.

„Yes, I decided that this relationship means so much to me that I don’t want to ruin this from the get go. I’m willing to take a step back and re-evaluate when we’re not annoyed with each other.“

„It’s now or never, princess. No steps back. What’s it going to be?“

She looked at him like he had slapped her. And in a way he had done exactly that. It was an unwritten between rule between them that he never called her that ridiculous moniker, the name everyone used to acknowledge that being a Malfoy might as well be the equivalent to royalty. It was petty and demeaning and never used in a nice way. It was an insult pressed into a compliment. He knew without a doubt that he had just destroyed the one relationship which meant the most to him with his poor anger management and harsh words.

Her face became impassive again. „Never, then.“ Without another word or a look at him she rushed out of the hotel room. The door slammed shut behind her and he was alone. She was gone.

—

_She_

She arrived at Gare du Nord just in time for the last train of the day. She rushed through the check-in procedures insanely grateful that everything had to happen that fast. That she had to concentrate on getting on this train and not on that argument with Sirius. On the end of the most important relationship in her life.

6 years. 6 years she had bloody pined after her best friend’s bigger brother only to win and lose him in one wonderful and awful weekend due to an argument that sounded sillier with every minute that went by. Over her family, no less. She meant what she said: She wasn’t in any way willing to break with them or her obligations to them or anything really that pertained her family. She also knew that she could have been more understanding of his situation. He didn’t have all that. His family - minus his brother - was one of the worst their society had to offer. She could completely relate why he would want to break with that.

The platform was already deserted. With a hearty jump through the door she quickly boarded the train, not even caring if it was the right compartment or not. She would find her seat, the train didn’t have to stay still for that.

The phone in her bag started to vibrate. It had done so most of the afternoon and she had dutifully ignored it to enjoy the time with her new boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, already. A brief glance told her that it was her brother who was trying to reach her and not Sirius. She was relieved and disappointed at the same time. Relieved that she didn’t have to talk to him because she knew without one shred of a doubt that she would answer every call. Disappointed because it wasn’t him, that she couldn’t resolve this tonight and maybe start again next week.

Before the call could go to voicemail again she quickly answered it. She expected to have a nice conversation with her nearly-twin in hopes of putting this evening to rest, maybe get his opinion and advice on how to save this. He would know how to handle a Black man properly. Although they had never actually publicized their relationship it was an open secret that Zeus Malfoy and Regulus Black were mad over each other.

Her hopes were squashed the second she heard her brother’s voice. There was panic and stress in it, sadness and exhaustion.

„Where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours,“ he wanted to know, not even answering her weak „Hey“ she had opened the conversation with.

He already sounded so stressed that she didn’t want to add to it with her man-troubles. Sirius and she obviously had to wait. 

„Doesn’t matter, nothing of consequence,“ she tried to soothe him.

„Are you OK?“

„Everything’s fine, don’t worry. What’s up?“

There was a pause in the conversation. Pauses weren’t good, she already knew that. Pauses were usually used to prepare for something awful. Something she wasn’t sure she could take today.

Zeus didn’t disappoint: „It’s our father, little one.“

The biggest pain of being exceptionally delicate had always been the fact that she was the smallest one in a family of literal giants. Both of her brothers and her father had those tall and imposing figures that immediately demanded respect whenever they entered a room. She didn't. Maddy was small and delicate like her mother. Two aspects that made her look like a fairy, someone who doesn’t need the respect her brothers instantly received. Her brothers knew that and chose to call her „little one“ as an endearment. It was also a way to stay as far away from that awful princess-term as they could possibly get.

„Little one“ had been used more excessively when she had still been little. These days they also preferred to use her nicknames Mads or Maddy when talking to her. The fact that Zeus used it all of a sudden was another clue that something bad was going to happen. It made her wary, at the very least.

„What’s wrong with Daddy?“

„He had a heart-attack. It doesn’t look good.“

This time Zeus didn’t pause. It also came out much more controlled than everything else he said before then. It smacked of controlled emotions, like he was doing everything he could to not show one grain of fear or sadness or stress. Like they were talking about that awful newspaper article and not about the sudden illness of their father.

The train rumpled its way through a change of tracks and Maddy had to take a short break to not fall over in the process. The sudden intake of air would have made her stop either way. It was accompanied by a shrill noise in her ears. Her hands felt clammy, holding the phone became increasingly difficult.

„What?"

„Where are you? I’ll come get you.“

There was a free row of seats right in front of her and she didn’t even care that she was in the wrong compartment, that this wasn’t her seat, that there were other people around her. She fell into the seats, her bag crashed onto the floor with a loud plonk.

„I’m in a train. In Paris. It just left the station. I’ll need another 4 hours to get to London St. Pancras. Please don’t tell me that you are all in Malchester?“

„Relax, Maddy, relax. We’re at St. Mary’s in London so you will arrive in the right city. Text me your arrival time and I will send Reggie or I will come myself, okay? It’s going to be okay, little one. You will get here and everything will be fine.“

„I can’t loose him. I’m not old enough to live without parents. We already lost Mum, I can’t do this without him.“

She realized how her breathing became shallow but didn’t care. There was this overwhelming fear in her that took precedence over everything. Fear of losing her father, the man who had raised her since her mother died. Fear of staying behind with her brothers who were both too young as well to finish growing up without their father. Fear for little Draco who wasn’t even born yet and already on the verge of never knowing his grandfather.

She could hear muffled voices on the other side of the call. After a few seconds of silence the clear voice of her best friend reached her ears.

„Mads? Maddy, sweetie, listen to me,“ Reggie called her to attention, „Breathe. In and out. In and out.“

Maddy could hear his exaggerated breathing and concentrated on aligning her own with his. She calmed down considerably with Reggie at her side.

„Excellent,“ Reggie continued talking to her. „Everything will be fine, sweetie, okay? You need 4 hours to get here? That’s great, then I have four hours of uninterrupted phone time with my oldest and most wonderful friend ahead of me. We haven’t seen each other in a whole week, I have so much to tell you.“

Reggie talked to her whenever they had a sufficient connection. As soon as the train pulled into St. Pancras his voice guided her to him in the main hall. Later Maddy had to admit that she didn’t know anything about the time between leaving Paris and collapsing into Reggie’s arms in London. She knew she had been quite safe because her best friend was there for her but anything could have happened and she wouldn’t have known.


	2. Interlude

_He_

The next time Sirius saw Maddy after Paris was a few months later when he was in a club with some friends from work. She was completely plastered, three sheets to the wind, swaying around and laughing with people he had never seen before in his life. His brother and their friend Lola were nowhere to be seen.

He wasn’t much better, to be honest, although he believed so. He took her home with him in the end, primarily to protect her and her virtue, where they realized that they might be too drunk to be somewhere in a social setting but definitely not too drunk to sleep with each other. Which they did. Repeatedly. At the time they thought it was a marvelous idea. It wasn’t, of course, not from a sober point of view.

When he woke up the next morning she was gone. Not only from his life but from everyone else’s as well, it seemed. The whole House of Malfoy suddenly vanished alongside Reggie, Lola and Narcissa. No Malfoy Family Party Extravaganzas, no newspaper articles about the newest coup of the Malfoy Trust, nothing. It felt like the richest family of the United Kingdom suddenly stopped existing. Only Lucius and Narcissa ever really emerged again and they never said a word about the other family members. Zeus, his brother and even Lola made cameos once in a while but those were half-hearted and they usually vanished again after an hour. The Malfoy patriarch and Maddy never showed up.

The possibility that something could have happened to her caused intense pain and a severe depression for Sirius. He had never really talked with his friends about her but he was so out of balance that even his normally oblivious friend James noticed it. James tried to cheer him up and make him talk one night, get him back to his former self. To this day he was the only person in the world who knew his side of the story, Maddy’s complete name and her background. Sirius gave him credit for the fact that he never judged her for anything.

For about a year Sirius tried dating Marlene but that one ended in a disaster. She wanted him to commit to them as a couple and get married. Have children. Sirius couldn’t do that. The only one he ever really saw in the role of a wife was Maddy. He couldn’t let go of the little fantasy that maybe she was still out there, still alive, still waiting for him. It never occurred to him to just look for her, ask Lucius whenever he made an appearance or even talk to his own brother. It was a fantasy, after all. He had tried to move on but somehow… somehow he didn’t even want to.

_She_

Maddie repeatedly wondered how one’s whole life can go down the drain in a matter of months and yet have the most awesome parts ever in it. First, there was Paris which was paradise and a catastrophe in one neat package. Then, she became pregnant by a complete stranger during her rather volatile handling of her father’s heart-attack. Well, she hoped it was a stranger because the only clear moments in her otherwise non-existing memories of that night had that bastard Rabastan Lestrange as the main protagonist and him being the father was definitely **not** an option. The room that she woke up in and that she immediately fled without even looking at the guy next to her definitely wasn’t the posh apartment General Lestrange had bought for his son though, so kudos to her for obviously even saying no to Rabastan in a more than unfortunate state.

Her pregnancy had been the last straw in a multitude of things which made her decide to leave London and everything it entailed behind. She settled down in her hometown in one of the town-houses her family owned. Lola was by her side during all of it, never even questioning the decision to quit London and all it had to offer. There were mitigating circumstances which made her despise the city anyway and she was more than happy to finally see the back of it. Zeus and Reggie quickly followed and moved in with the girls. Lucius, Narcissa and her father moved into the Manor a few weeks after Abraxas Malfoy was finally able to leave the hospital. None of them ever sat down with the others to discuss those decisions, it just happened naturally. They all went to London regularly anyway - for business purposes, mostly -, so it was only their living situation that changed. Nothing big. It felt monumental nevertheless.

Leaving London also meant leaving Sirius behind. Maddy needed weeks and months to come to terms with that part and until the present day she didn’t really move on. Didn’t **want** to move on although her friends and family gently nudged her to do exactly that. She knew that she was chasing the dream of a relationship that never really happened. He made her choose and she chose to end it in that moment. That should have been the closure that she needed but it didn’t work that way. She let him in her heart and he was awfully stubborn to stay there. Just like the real version would have been.

Even if she hadn’t been successful when it came to love, her life was good. She owned a coffee shop, which had been a great idea, and a bookshop, which maybe wasn’t such a marvelous idea although it was successful nevertheless. Life was good. Really good. She had her friends, her job, Noelle, a great nephew, a marvelous dog.

Yes, there was room for improvement but life wasn’t perfect. For nobody. Maybe there was a Sirius-shaped hole but she also never put in much effort to find him.


	3. Lily

They had kept it a secret. James’ new job and their subsequent move away from London. Not because they didn’t want their friends to know. Lily simply knew at the bottom of her heart that the overwhelming majority of them wouldn’t understand. Maybe Remus would. Yes, Remus would definitely understand. Sirius would probably go on a tangent of how they were breaking this awesome group apart maliciously by leaving their comfortable cocoon. He always was a little bit dramatic, that one. The others? They probably wouldn’t care anyway.

After the disaster with Marlene their once tight-knit group of friends was split into two camps. Marlene, Dorcas, Mary and to everyone’s astonishment Peter on one side and then Lily, James, Remus and Sirius on the other. Being in the other group apparently meant that Lily was henceforth excluded from any group activity the other girls planned. She had been friends with them since their first day at Hogwarts. Their current behavior hurt. A lot. It was even worse when she saw Sirius run around with those puppy-dog eyes because he felt terrible for causing this. Yes, his break-up with Marlene certainly didn’t help but Marlene wasn’t the helpless victim here. Everybody knew Sirius’ stance on marriage and children: No to both. What did Marlene expect when she forced the issue on him? That he would finally crack and give in? That man was the epitome of pig-headed and stubborn. Lily herself had cut her teeth trying to convince him to finally go on a date with that blonde girl with the many names. He had insisted that he was out of her league, especially after his disinheritance, and she wouldn’t even consider him as more than a friend although everyone with eyes could see that his feelings were very much reciprocated. They had been positively barmy for each other during the few times Lily had seen them together. However, his infatuation had stopped suddenly with his severe depression. Coincidentally that had also been the time that his intense dislike of marriage and children had begun. Maybe there was a connection between those two.

So, even though James felt bad about this, they had begun preparing for their move in private. They visited Malchester a lot, went to the local pub and coffee shop and looked at some of the available houses with Eddy, the realtor, who was ecstatic to show them around. He was a slightly older fellow in his 40’s or 50’s with a fashion sense that had stopped going forward in the 80’s but he knew Malchester and its inhabitants like the back of his hand. The house they chose in the end had been Lily’s favorite anyway but it became even better when Eddy assured them that there were other children in Harry’s age among the new neighbors.

Eddy apparently not only worked hard finding houses for Malchester’s new inhabitants, he also made sure they already had friends when they moved to the little village. There was no other explanation - not to Lily at least - how she could explain the text message by someone called Lola a few days after they had signed the contract.

„Hi, this may sound weird but Eddy thought we might become great friends once you move to Malchester. I’m sincerely sorry, Eddy watched too many cheesy movies in his life and now believes that everything has the potential for an epic story. Anyway, my friend Madeleine and I are in London for the weekend. If you want to meet up to get a probably more realistic view of the village, please respond or call or whatever. We would love to meet you. All the best, Lola.“

They met up in a cute little coffee shop in Notting Hill. Well, Lola and she did. Madeleine had to cancel because the Harpy flipped out in the most inopportune moment. Lily didn’t know if Lola wanted to pull her leg or if they were the worst liars ever. Be that as it may, the conversation was quite pleasant. Scratch that. Very pleasant. Lola told her everything there was to know about Malchester and its apparently very quirky inhabitants. It was nice to get some information from someone her own age about the potential of the town.

„Do you think we made the right choice? We are leaving a lot behind and we’re still not sure if it’s worth it. Our friends are all in London and I’m sure we’ll miss them terribly,“ she asked Lola at one point.

„I can only talk about my own perspective but Malchester has been my hometown since I was 13 and I feel safe there. I lived in London for a very short period after my A-Levels and I never looked back when Maddy and I decided to go back home. In the end you have to decide for yourself, of course, but I can tell you that Malchester won’t keep you away from anything. You’re not leaving for the other side of the earth but for a town that is only two hours away. That’s quite manageable, I can assure you.“

„Are you here often?“

„We try to avoid it, to be honest, but that’s just us. Unlike our friends and family we live solely in Malchester and we have everything that we could possibly need. On the plus side: the Harpy finds the town so apprehensible that she never shows up there. Otherwise, my dear friend would be in prison right now for a very gruesome murder. It’s a safety precaution on top of it,“ Lola answered.

Lily had to smile, mainly out of relief because Lola was right. Malchester wasn’t the end of the world. They could see their friends anytime they wanted. Instead of going around the city for over an hour they would just have to drive a little bit longer. It would be fine.

They easily talked the whole afternoon and only parted ways because the café was closing and not because they were indeed done with their conversation. She still marveled over the simplicity of meeting Lola when she cuddled on the couch with James later in the evening.

„How was that coffee date with the Malchester girls today?“ He asked her eventually. „Will there be many pitchforks in my immediate future?“

She pinched his side which made him laugh. With a smile on his face he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers.

„Not too many,“ she answered and crunched one side of her face. „Lola doesn’t seem like the pitchfork-wielding girl. I never got to meet Madeleine, though. She had to cancel last minute due to an unfortunate incident with a Harpy.“

„So, there is at least one animal tamer in our future? Excellent. Maybe she can finally tame Padfoot, he really needs it.“ His joke fell flat as Lily still looked pensive, lost in her own thoughts. „Lily? Anything the matter?“

She answered after a short while. „I don’t know. Lola seemed awfully familiar, I’m racking my brain where I might have met her before.“

_Hogwarts, 6 years prior_

It was Sirius’ 18th birthday the week after that. What normally should have been a joyous occasion was overshadowed these days by his sheer panic over his disinheritance. Apparently, his parents didn’t even care anymore if he completed his education and only payed for the first six months, knowing exactly that Sirius would have no opportunity to earn the money needed for his last 6 months until he could attend his A-Levels and graduate with all of them.

To distract him from his worries his friends had sat down and organized a whole surprise party for him. He only reached maturity once, he should enjoy it and they wanted to see him happy again. Even if it only lasted one evening. Hell, these days they would take a minute of happiness and count it as a resounding success.

Lily and the others had invited everybody they thought Sirius might like to have there. Well, almost everybody. There were still people on Lily’s list that she was sure Sirius would have wanted there but the others stubbornly insisted that Slytherins weren’t allowed. In the end, she had let them have their opinion and did what she wanted to do all along: invite the black-haired girl Sirius constantly fussed over, his brother and their friends. If her friends didn’t like it… Well, they would find out at the party, so she didn’t put too much thought into that scenario.

The library was deserted at this time of day. Dinner was approaching soon and everybody had already gone back to their respective houses to get ready for the meal. Thankfully, her intended target hadn’t gone yet. The black haired girl still sat at one of the tables cursing silently at her homework. Lily had interacted only a little with her during the last several years and only knew a few things about her. She was two years behind Lily and her friends, best friends with Sirius’ little brother Regulus, she lived with her Godfather and she usually stopped Lily twice a year to give her a bunch of presents for Sirius: in November and then again in December. Nothing more, she didn’t even remember if her name had ever been mentioned in their conversations.

Lily approached her silently and cleared her throat when she stood at the table. The girl looked up curiously.

„Can I help you?“ The girl asked harshly and flinched immediately afterwards. „Sorry. I don’t want to be a bitch, this maths exercise just doesn’t seem right and I’m annoyed that I can’t find my mistake. I’m Lola, by the way.“

Lily smiled at her. „No problem, I don’t want to bother you for long. Sirius is turning 18 in a week and I was just wondering if you would like to come to his surprise birthday party. Well, you and your friends, actually.“

„Sure, I’m certain I can speak for all of them when I wholeheartedly agree to show up.“

Lily happily gave her all the details for the party. „Do you want me to have a look at your homework?“

„No need, but thank you. Maybe I should just stop here anyway. I’ll probably find the mistake immediately when I look at it with fresh eyes or Zoo will explain it to me later in our daily call,“ Lola declined her offer with a smile on her face.

Lola, Lily decided immediately, was refreshingly different in comparison to the other Slytherin girls. Most of them came from extremely prestigious families and were sorted into Slytherin simply on the principle alone that it was a long-standing tradition in their family to belong to that house. The Slytherins that she had met when she had still been friends with Severus had all acted extremely arrogant and looked down their noses when it became clear that Lily’s family wasn’t rich or Sacred 28. Lola seemed to be a refreshing exception, she knew immediately why Sirius liked her that much.

„Oh, um…“ Lola trailed off.

„My name is Lily. Sorry, I should have started with that,“ Lily chuckled. 

„Don’t be, it’s entirely okay. Nice to meet you. I just wanted to add that we could be a little bit late for the party. Please don’t take that as an indicator that we want to make a big entrance or that we won’t show up at all. It’s just that Reggie and I have to smuggle in Mads and Zoo. They don’t attend Hogwarts. Sometimes we have to wait an awfully long time until the right opportunity appears.“

„Oh… okay, thank you for the notice in advance. I’ll keep it in mind,“ Lily smiled at her and then made her way back to the dining hall.

Lola had been right. When they finally arrived, the party had already started an hour before. It had been worth it. Sirius was so happy to see them, especially the little blonde girl Lola had brought with her. They hugged for a long time until they let go of each other again and Sirius started interrogating them how they got in. Lily didn’t understand the explanation at all, apparently it included a lot of subterfuge and disguising as someone else.

„Did you already open your presents?“ The girl asked, jumping up and down clapping her hands.

„The others, yes,“ Sirius confirmed. „You know you don’t have to give me a present, do you? The fact that you came here all the way from France is present enough. You too, Zoo.“ He looked at the other blond man who stood next to Regulus.

Zoo nodded in acknowledgement, smiling gently. „Do you really think that I could discourage this one from buying you a present?“ he asked pointing at the girl.

They presented their gifts which were all very tasteful and well thought out. They were small gifts, nothing outrageous or costly. A band shirt, a CD of his favorite band that had just come out. They had bought those with him in mind.

„We have one more present that we were ordered to give you, actually,“ the girl said a little bit embarrassed.

„I hope it’s not my mother.“

„No, definitely not her. Although it’s a parental figure, nonetheless.“

Sirius looked at her quizzically while Zoo produced an envelope out of his jacket.

„I suggest you read it a little bit later,“ he said while handing it over. Sirius nodded and put it away with his other presents, carefully finding a place on the table dedicated to his gifts. Later, after much needling due to Sirius’ immediate change back to his former unworried self, Lily and their friends found out that the envelope had been his present by the blond’s father. It contained not only the assurance that the tuition for his last year was paid in full but also quite a generous nest-egg for his start into his new life. Sirius never told them how much the patriarch had given him exactly but they guessed that it must have been quite the amount because Sirius always was reserved about it and quickly changed the topic whenever it came up. Alongside the money there had been a letter from the man himself which they had seen Sirius read a lot of times even after his birthday.

The party went on until well into the night. Lily saw Sirius talk to the blonde little girl a lot of times and he always had that gentle smile on his face and seemed to be completely smitten with her. They touched a lot. A lot more than Lily had ever seen Sirius touch someone before. He was a well-admired boy among her peers and several girls flirted with him on a daily basis. In the end only a few actually landed a date with him. It was always the prissy tall ones with black or brown hair and they never lasted longer than a date… or a night.

Around 3 o’clock in the night Professor McGonagall crashed the party to break it up. Midway through her tirade about the noise, she halted and narrowed her eyes.

„Dorian! Emmeline!“ she bellowed at two of the students and asked with a stern voice: „I am positive that your father is aware where you are?“

Lily and her friends shared astonished glances with each other. Only Sirius looked wide-eyed at his teacher and Lola and Regulus tried to disappear into the crowd. Professor McGonagall never called out students by their first names, why would she start with those two? Who were they anyway?

„Well, he is aware of the general direction and the country. I’m sure of that,“ the girl next to Sirius said sheepishly. Lily detected their intertwined fingers, even though Sirius tried to hide them between their bodies. 

„And the place?“

„No… No, I can’t say that for sure. Well, he gave us a present for the birthday boy instead of delivering it himself so I’m pretty sure he knows on some level that we would find our way up here.“

„Why am I not surprised?“ she asked exasperated and sighed. „Please tell your father that there is no need to send his remaining children to school in another country, especially if they end up here more often than not and have his permission anyway. As a member of the Board of Directors the placement of his children might as well be guaranteed.“

„I’ll be sure to remind him, Professor. Thank you for your advice,“ the boy intervened. He had a charming smile on his face, obviously getting ready to talk himself out of the situation.

„I’m sure you will, Dorian. May I remind you that I taught your brother? There’s no trick he didn’t use to get himself out of sticky situations. You can rest assured that I know them all. Do I need to ready two guest rooms in the middle of the night or will this be a rather short trip?“

„There’s no need for that, but please accept my humble thanks. We have to be back in London in a few hours so we should probably head back to the airfield sooner than later. There’s a rather important luncheon we have to attend at the request of our father.“

„Of course,“ the professor pursed her lips and searched for someone in the crowd. „Mr. Black, Miss Lestrange, can I be certain that you will accompany both of them out? We wouldn’t want them to get lost and make them late for their **luncheon**.“

Regulus and Lola sprang out of their hiding places and quickly assured her that they would make sure that Dorian and Emmeline would indeed find their way back to the entrance. Satisfied, the professor ushered everyone out of the room until only the Gryffindors, the Slytherins and their guests were left.

Before the professor left the room she turned around once more and looked at the intruders. „One more piece of advice for you two… Green and silver horribly washes out your complexion. Might I suggest red and gold for the next time?“ she asked with the hint of a smirk on her face. 

With a laugh Emmeline curtsied and nodded. „I’ll keep it in mind, Professor.“

„Why am I not surprised that you didn’t even try to assure me there won’t be a next time?“

Then she left for good and the teens alone. They quickly said their goodbyes as well. Again, Emmeline received a much longer hug by Sirius than all the others combined and only left after she told Sirius repeatedly that she would be fine and that Regulus and Lola were perfect guides back to the entrance. It was clear as day - to Lily at least - that Sirius didn’t want to let her go. Didn’t want to let her walk away… back to London, away from him.

All their friends didn’t see a thing because they busy congratulating themselves on a great party. Only Lily saw the longing glance to the entrance on Sirius’ face, long after they went through it.

„Is she your girlfriend?“ she asked him quietly, hoping that the others wouldn’t notice.

„No,“ he looked her sadly. „Mads is my brother’s best friend.“

„Mads? I thought her name is Emmeline.“

„Emmeline is her middle name.“

„Then the boy’s name isn’t Dorian either?“

Sirius chuckled. „No, definitely not. Mads’ and Zoo’s first names are quite remarkable and everybody fascinated with the Sacred 28,“ he glanced in Mary’s direction pointedly, „would have known immediately who they were. I could kiss Minnie for protecting them like that.“

They smiled at each other. 

„Why don’t you just ask Mads out on a date when you’re in London?“ Lily bumped him with her shoulder. „I’m certain she will say yes immediately.“

He scoffed and then looked at her sadly. „I’m so out of her league that I don’t even have to bother asking.“ With that his face morphed into a happy one, he turned around and thanked them all for the great party. It was a smoke-screen, Lily knew that immediately but she let him be. He would talk to her when he was ready.Even if he didn’t… she would make sure he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> New AU Marauder-Story. The characters of the Harry Potter Universe aren't mine and I make no money with publishing this story. I have added some new Malfoy family members, though, and thrown them all into a slightly different setting.


End file.
